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You go to the Brat Cave.
Brat Cave
Extremely large room is aglow with brilliant glowbaskets lighting up
the room, positioned above grasping fingers
carefully in corners as to provide the best possible illumination.
Cavernous walls shine, dabb'd hither and thither with
bright shades of fingerpaint, as are the pots lying scattered all over
sturdy kid-size tables huddled in bunches in
corners. Rugs scatter the floor to protect small feet also, perhaps
a bit smudged here and there from little accidents,
embroidered by the nannies in their spare time, almost seeming to cover
a dip in the floor and topped with plush chairs
all comfortably positioned in a loose ring about a comfortably warm
fireplace flickering cheerfully for storytelling.
Sweet and yummy, scents of cookies and candy waft about the room.
Poking through the paint pots are Pix, Tirone, and Gunwalloe.
You see Toy Box, Mud Colors, Aurae, and Atai here.
Vanessa is here.
Obvious exits:
Sleeping Quarters Inner Caverns
Rooms
Vanessa is standing there, arms crossed, with a ferocious frown 'pon her brow. She doesn't notice Lylia's entrance.
Emerald eyes dart wildly. Lylia gulps, nervous. The brat cave. Seeing
as how scary the brats are, shouldn't this place be
more sinister and terrifying? Hmmm... "Hi!" Smiling shyly at the person
already present, she takes a few steps forward.
Vanessa
An adolescent of average height stands before you, her blue eyes sparkly
and happy, her light brown, wavy hair tied in a
long tail behind her. She sports well-formed features; her cheekbones
are high and defined, her eyes set deep, and her
chin smooth and sharp. A small, cute snub-nose runs down the middle
of her face, off-setting the rest of her, more adult,
features. Her hands and feet and arms and legs are small and rather
thin, but seem to carry strength within them. Her
lightly browned skin looks smooth and clean.
A simple tunic of creamy yellow and matching trous are all that protect
her body from the evil weather of the High
Reaches. Of course, they're wherhide, which makes them that much warmer
and more durable. Salt's Lil' Backpack hangs
loosely over Vanessa's shoulder.
The beaten, blue-and-black of the 'Reaches hangs over her shoulder,
tied in a 'Reaches Assistant Nanny knot.
She is awake and looks alert.
Carrying:
Salt's Lil' Backpack
Vanessa is 15 Turns, 4 months, and 24 days old.
Vanessa jumps at Lylia's voice, but when she sees the girl, her frown
lifts from her face. "Lylia!" A blinding beams
spreads 'cross her delicately carved alabaster features. "How're
you? I'm so glad you're here... now, can you just---"
Ness' brows furrow again, as she remembers that Lylia is sometimes
associated with brat pranks. "Wait.... you wouldn't
just have /happened/ to do it, would you?"
"Do what?" Innocence is apparent on Lylia's face, though whether it's
sincere or not is unknown. "I don't recall seeing
or being involved with any pranks today..." Eyes darting around suddenly,
as if expecting the room to be covered in water
or the ground to be littered with food, she can't find what it is that
the other girl speaks of. "What happened?"
"You did it. You did it. I /know/ you did it." The
nanny folds her arms across her chest again, tapping slender white
fingers against her tunic impatiently. "Why did you do it?"
And as if she hadn't even heard Lylia's question, she
continues, "Of course, since you did it, you can't help me do
what I wanted you to do. So I have to ask someone else."
And Ness glares at Lylia as if it were all her fault.
"Did /what/?" Nearly glaring at Vanessa, the lanky girl takes a breath
and furiously shoves strands of coppery hair from
her eyes. "I don't think I did it, so at least tell me what happened!
I'll fix it if I did! What.. happened..." Slowly
drawing in her sanity, Lylia tries to be patient. I didn't do anything,
did I?
Vanessa cooly raises golden eyebrows at the girl, and at last concedes
to tell her, "You did it. /You/ spilled wine all
over it." Slowly, she draws in a breath, lets it out. In,
out, in, out. Be calm. "You /can't/ fix it. It was my
favorite thing. I'll have to punish you. You and that nasty
little 'brat who did it with you."
"Wine?" Jaw dropping, Lylia's eyes look like they're about to pop out
of her head. "I would /not/ spill wine! I like wine
too much to put it anywhere but my stomach! I'm too careful with it,
and I haven't had a cup in two da... a 'brat?"
Interest flares up in her eyes, their color lightening. "Which 'brat
might this be?" Not her! Silently wishing that her
foolishness might not have her in trouble, she cringes. "I swear by
the First Egg, I didn't spill any wine. Didn't have
any lately!"
Vanessa shakes her head sadly. Lylia must have been drinking again,
the nanny concludes. "Oh, there /isn't/ another
'brat involved? I thought there was. /Well/. In that
case, I'll just have to punish you doubly. Peeling tubers isn't
*nearly* enough punishment for something as evil as spilling wine on
my favorite blan--er, thing." Scarlet creeps up the
assistant nanny's neck, but she brushes away her embarrassment and
starts in on the poor resident girl again. "Of
/course/ you did it. And now..." A pause, Ness crooks her
finger at one of her pet 'brats and whispers something
unintelligible in her ear, and she runs off. "And now we'll just
have to see what my messenger says." A smug grin
spreads across her features as she watches the retreating figure of
the child.
Ready to take off towards the door, Lylia shudders. Brat cave.... surrounded
by them soon... what can happen to her? "I
never have much, only enough to help get some sleep or help the tongue.
Please, /please/ don't send the 'brats after me!"
Lylia's plea nearly hits a shriek, nervous as she is. "I didn't, I
swear! 'Brats like wine, could be one of them! It wasn't me!" The thought
of a glass of Benden suddenly making her sick to her stomach, she shudders
under Ness's cold gaze. "Please..." Her final plea comes out as a whisper,
recalling the horror stories of residents who were tied up and tortures
by the weyrbrats.
Vanessa smiles brightly as her 'little messenger' comes toddling back
in. "/Thank/ you, Lenalia, darling. Ooh..." A
malicious glint lights up her cold cerulean eyes and she raises them
to look at Lylia. "I have the /perfect/ punishment
for you, deeeear." The nanny drawls, rerolling the hide Lenalia
had handed to her.
"Y... you do?" Biting her thumb nervously, Lylia slinks backwards. "Umm...
what?" Please don't be the kind I could think
of...
"Indeed, I do!" Vanessa snatches Lylia's arm and marches determinedly
out of the Brat Cave. "/You/ are going to stand
for Chayath's clutch, m'dear." And then, to make everything absolutely
clear, the nanny stops stomping for a moment,
turns around, and says, "Chayath's, mind you. /Not/ Ysbryth's.
Remember that." A remonishing frown clouds her face,
then she begins to parade out again.
"Whaaaa?" The fearful look has turned to shock. "Me? Stand?" Squeaking,
Lylia nearly jumps on the nanny. "I am?" Dazed,
she follows Ness.
Vanessa nods firmly and, still marching, drags the shocked girl out.
Vanessa heads back out towards the caverns.
Back out you go! Mind the kiddie's artwork.
Inner Caverns
Ancient caverns unfold in an endless maze of tunnels and stairs, the
Weyr's cavities a labyrinth to the uninitiated.
Here, trimmed by the last of the stone cutters, arched walls and vaulted
ceilings retain the soapy smoothness of
well-worn stone, as do the endless tunnel floors kept clear and tidy.
Shadows creep and flicker across these glowlit
mountain walls, creatures of non-light wending their way east to the
main caverns and bowl, or branching out in a web of
caves to the Weyr's living spaces.
Shadowed on stone-smooth ledge are Iniquity, Sisal, and Raksha.
Faye and Vanessa are here.
Obvious exits:
Living Caverns Hallway
Dorms Barracks Baths
Brat Cave Infirmary Guests'
Quarters
Vanessa opts for the white-washed entrances to the Candidates' barracks.
You survived! Escaping through the heavy canvas curtain you arrive here...
Candidate Barracks
Serviceable, this low-ceiling'd room runs right and left from the heavy
canvas curtains that function as a door:
relatively bare of ornamentation, tidy glows light the few worn tapestries
that adorn the walls and depict a variety of
dragons in flight or at rest. But it is the cots, lots and lots
of cots, that distinguish this room from the others,
their blue or black coverlets tucked neatly over relatively fresh rushes.
Candidate's haven, this is their escape from the bustling world of
chores and Weyr; visitors are welcome if invited.
Resting atop the doorframe are Selkie, Cornflower, Lox, Tourmaline,
Dana, Cray, and Beats.
You see Name Board, Tiri's Cot, Mharida's Cot, Auri's Cot, Sena's Cot,
Tyara's Cot, and Pyrene's Cot here.
You notice Tyara and Pyrene asleep here.
Saendi, Sena, and Vanessa are here.
Obvious exits:
Caverns
Saendi sends a drudge running for a cot. After a few minutes the drudge returns dragging a big heavy cot for Lylia.
"Eeeh...." Staring, dumbstruck, at the others, Lylia tries to articulate anything. "I.... Oh!"
Vanessa nods approvingly and gives Lylia's new cot a hefty kick to be
sure it is stable and won't collapse in the middle
of the night and kill her. After all, that would ruin it all.
Lylia simply /has/ to burn the soles off of her feet. "There we go.
And don't you /dare/ go sneaking away from the Weyr. You are going
to stand, and that's that."
Saendi *sneaks out, don't mind me....
Saendi slips back out to the caverns.
"Eeee!" Letting out a happy yell, Lylia leaps onto the nanny, hugging
her as tightly as she can. "Oh!! Her I though I was
gonna be a 'brat omlette! Thank you Vanessa!" Looking around, amazed,
she falls on the cot. "I won't sneak away. You
could sic the brats on me."
Vanessa is rather surprised at that response, and is about to go back
on her punishment and find something else, but then
undergoes a sudden change in terperament, and /smiles/. Nicely.
"Alright, Lylia. Let's find you a knot, now." Ness
has never stood, so she can't do any better than kick open ancient
chests and search for someone else's worn knot for
Lylia. "Here, here's one." A muffled voice calls from within
a large chest. Moments later, Ness disentangles herself
from a white, sleeveless tunic -- Lylia'll have to deal with /that/
later -- and tosses a slightly worn white knot at the
resident turned Candidate.
Lylia catches it, and stares at it. "Amazed I could even see it... I
just can't believe it...." Tying the knot slowly on
her arm, she closes her eyes for a moment. "Whoa... This is so weird."
Vanessa just laughs and begins to shuffle out of the barracks, calling
over her shoulder, "Have a fun Candidacy, now,
Lylia. The Hatching day'll come soon enough, and then...."
She lets her voice trail off ominously and, chuckling to
herself, shuffles out.
Vanessa slips back out to the caverns.
**End Log**